Where to go: Picturesque Štramberk and a view from Trúba
The picturesque town of Štramberk is one of the places we highly recommend to everyone. All along the way up to the famous watchtower Trúba a visitor enjoys the history of the place: narrow lanes, houses built on the hillside, nostalgic old and new timbered outbuildings.
The castle of Štramberk and its history
The Trúba watchtower is together with the preserved fortification the only remnant of the Castle of Štramberk which was known in the first half of the 14th century as a fortress. The shape of the castle corresponded to the then building customs which are observable in other Czech castles. When the castle was built remains, however, unclear.
The history tells us that there used to stand two fortresses on the Kotouč hill. During John of Bohemia’s reign a new, more solid castle was built which would be rebuilt many times in the following years. It was John Henry, Margrave of Moravia who gave the castle its final shape which includes a watchtower and fortress. During the reign of the Žerotín dynasty the castle of Štramberk received a new roof.
The original function of the castle was probably guarding the trade route from Opava region to Hungary. This route crossed the route going from Olomouc to Silesia. It is presumable that John of Bohemia entrusted one of his subjects with the construction of the fortress which, subsequently, fell upon him. It is very likely that subject was Vok of Kravaře, whose manor was situated north of Štramberk.
In the 15th century the castle fell upon Hustopeče; the last nobleman of this dynasty – Lacek - later on (1523) sold the castle to Bernard of Žerotín, the owner of the castle of Fulnek. Further on Nový Jičín came into possession of the castle. The castle, however, was dilapidating and its refurbishment only commenced in 1613 whereby only the castle roofs were repaired. Further arrangements took place during the Thirty Years War when Jesuits hid in the castle. The castle was abandoned in 1773 and remained so until the 19th century.
The stairway leading up to Trúba was built around 1860 and at the same time a new room was constructed where a skittle alley and tavern were established later on. Owing to the venture not being profitable the castle was shut down and dilapidate until the late 19th century.
When railways started to expand first tourists came to Štramberk and shortly after it became a place popular with trippers and hikers. The wooden sidewalk under the top of Trúba was created at the same time, offering fantastic views to all points of compass. Subsequently, the fortress was bought by the Association of Czech tourists which would administer the watchtower until 1950 when it was nationalized. In 1994 the castle (or rather, the remains of it) came back to possession of Štramberk.
We believe you will enjoy your trip to this remarkable place with splendid history, fauna and flora, and visit Štramberk more frequently. It is not only the Trúba which is worth seeing, the world-known cave of Šipka or recently established Arboretum in an old quarry, which is popular among climbers, are worth seeing as well. We will be please to acquaint you with these landmarks sometime later.
